Started as an independent producer in 1988

Chapter 352: Uncharted 2 Released
The development of any industry is inseparable from the development of technology.

Even chefs come up with new ideas every day.

Otherwise, how can there be any progress?

Chen Shiping is very satisfied with the technological progress of the motion capture system.

We are still a little short of world-class standards, and our independent research and development is also a little short, but we can learn by copying.

The success of digital projectors and motion capture systems made Chen Shiping realize a problem.

These experts are really amazing experts!

They are all masters who have been transferred from the military to the civilian sector. With the attitude of working in the military industry and sufficient resources, it is really easy for them to tinker with these things which are not too difficult.

Chen Shiping estimated that if they were given a few more years, it would not be impossible for them to become the world's number one.

However, this thing is still limited by computers and chips. If you really want to become the best in the world, you need too many things.

Take it slow. When the group has more money than it can spend, we can also invest in chip research.

If couriers can make drones and rockets, why can’t moviemakers make chips?

The future is the era of the Internet, and the Internet cannot be separated from the word "chip".

The future film industry cannot do without the Internet. The more advanced the digital special effects, the more powerful computers and software they require.

Chen Shiping was thinking that instead of waiting for Internet capital to invade the entertainment industry, he should just deal with them first!
What Papa Ma? Let them call him Papa from now on.

Twenty years later, everyone has a very bad perception of the entertainment industry, and regards celebrities as the main body of the film and television industry.

The domestic film and television industry probably started to go astray under the influence of the Korean Wave.

All the focus is on traffic, and the basics of the industry are completely ignored.

In contrast, look at Hollywood, they don’t care about a few stars at all.

Because they can always bring out more famous stars and control all the traffic at any time.

The traffic is yours only when I give it to you; if I don’t give it to you, you are a worthless top traffic star!
It's really sad to let a group of so-called top stars become the center of the film and television industry.

Technology! Channels! Capital! Industrialized industry!
This is what Chen Shiping values. If nothing else, he can make anyone famous now.

Stars seem to be glamorous and receive honors and applause, but in reality these things are just empty talk.

Chen Shiping gave a lot of bonuses to these technical experts. Experts in motion capture systems received a minimum bonus of 20,000 yuan based on their contributions, which is equivalent to more than two years' salary for an ordinary person.

This amount of money is actually not much, not even as much as some actors' pay.

But Chen Shiping will compensate in other ways, such as house, car, living security and so on.

Make sure these experts have no worries!
Chen Shiping chatted with them in the laboratory for a while and then left.

He needs to go back and re-examine the future development plan. The technological advancement of the motion capture system has made his previous plan seem a bit outdated.

At the very least, the IP creation plan needs to be reformulated. Although two-dimensional animation is good, it is not suitable for comprehensive promotion of movies.

After all, people spend money to go to the cinema to see the pictures, and there is still a gap between two-dimensional and three-dimensional.

Before returning to the group, Chen Shiping went to the Beijing Film Studio.

I don't know how the animation of Frozen is doing.

It only takes Hayao Miyazaki a few months to make an animation, but it took almost a year for Frozen.

You can't compare the creative speed with that of Shanghai Mei Factory.

It takes three years to make a movie. This speed can be said to be a masterpiece of ingenuity, but it can also be said to be inefficient.

However, the Lotus Lantern at the Shanghai Mei Factory is trying to guard against Disney's operating procedures and is still groping along the way.

Another very important point is that the entire process is digitally produced, abandoning the traditional hand-painted method.

This is indeed progress, but in Chen Shiping's opinion it is a wrong step.

The animation made by computer is also two-dimensional, which is not as distinctive as the traditional hand-drawn method.

The Lotus Lantern is nice to watch, but it lacks the stunningness of Journey to the West and the splendor of 3D animation, so it is not a landmark work.

The overall style is more American, which is not suitable for domestic mythological stories and has lost its characteristics.

The backgrounds of The Lotus Lantern are all very beautiful, but the characters are too American.

Chen Shiping remembered that there was a shot where Chenxiang stood with a group of animals, which was almost exactly the same as in The Lion King!
In fact, this style is quite embarrassing, but it is indeed an improvement!
If you really want to be picky, The Lotus Lantern is quite a failure.

There is nothing wrong with using digital and some 3D special effects, but technology is meant to advance. Movies can either look better or be produced more quickly and at a lower cost.

But The Lotus Lantern counts as neither of them, and the cost of 12 million over three years seems particularly insignificant.

The artistic achievement is not as good as that of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", and it has lost the style of Chinese aesthetics and has not developed its own path.

Alas. Not a good review.

Why learn the European and American styles?

Beijing Film Studio did not use this method when making Frozen. They did not even make 3D animation. Why bother with those things? Magnifying the hand-painted features and having your own highlights are the key to success.

Otherwise, just watch Hollywood animations. Why bother watching yours?

Japan insists on its own style, and Hayao Miyazaki is a typical representative. He doesn't care what European and American animations are like, he just sticks to his own style!
When Princess Mononoke was released in Europe and the United States, the distributor demanded that the film be re-edited, otherwise it would not be released or it would ban Hayao Miyazaki on behalf of Hollywood.

Miyazaki simply sent over a samurai sword.

If you dare to cut it, I will chop you off!

Anyway, I'm not going to Europe or the United States, so why should I care about Hollywood?

Chen Shiping thinks the same way. I'm just developing in Asia, why should I care about your Hollywood?

Damn the American style. If you really want to do something beautiful, it will be a thankless task.

European and American audiences might as well watch Disney!
If the animation has no creativity and highlights, how can it be attractive!
Moreover, European and American animations have no market in Asia, unless they are 3D animations!

So when doing 3D, do it in your own style, and when doing D, do it with greater universality, and work hard on the plot and creativity.

Don't put the cart before the horse!

Chen Shiping was in the art workshop of the Beijing Film Studio, and he was very satisfied looking at the finished materials.

The animation has been completely drawn and is now being scanned and transcribed.

It takes a little time to turn each original painting into a moving animation frame by frame.

However, Chen Shiping was still very satisfied with those pictures with distinct styles and bright colors.

Although it is not the traditional ink painting style, it is at least much better looking than the American-style characters in The Lotus Lantern.

American animation is simple and rough, while 3D is much more delicate. After all, it is a high-tech thing, and it will look very bad if it is not made to look good.

The Lotus Lantern wanted to learn from Mulan, and many people in the creative team had participated in the creation of Disney's Mulan.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to localize and go international, but it's a pity that it's a bit out of place.

Chen Shiping is now waiting for the release of The Lotus Lantern. After The Lotus Lantern is released, Frozen will be released right after it to see which one is more popular. However, The Lotus Lantern still needs to compete with Uncharted 2.

I hope he doesn't get beaten too badly!
I hope Frozen can prove that Chen Shiping’s choice was correct.

Now Frozen is also going to do post-production and dubbing.

Chen Shiping didn't find a famous actor to do the dubbing, he just found a voice actor to do the dubbing.

There will be many more animations in the future, and we must cultivate great voice actors.

Having celebrity actors dubbing for a film can indeed attract some attention as a form of publicity, but it can also distract the audience.

Dubbing is to serve the animation characters. If the voice actor's personal characteristics are too strong, it will really affect the character.

Whenever Chen Shiping thinks of Erlang Shen in The Lotus Lantern, Jiang Wen’s big face appears in his mind.

It feels very awkward.

It is better to use voice actors so that the audience can focus on the animation itself rather than the actors behind it.

Chen Shiping was chatting with Master Yang about the subsequent animation execution plan in the art workshop.

Master Yang seemed very melancholy. The team of several hundred people had just finished running in, and now they were going to do 3D?
"Don't worry about that. If we don't make animated films, we can still make feature-length animations."

Chen Shiping handed over a cigarette and said, "The animation market cannot be ignored. They complement each other."

Master Yang sighed and nodded, saying, "That would mean completely abandoning the ink painting style. 3D can't create that kind of artistic conception."

Chen Shiping raised his eyebrows and said, "It's not that absolute. The ink painting style would be more beautiful if it became three-dimensional. If the auspicious clouds really floated before our eyes, the effect might be even better."

Hearing Chen Shiping's words, Master Yang couldn't help but frown. He had seen a lot of 3D animations and felt that it would be difficult to create that kind of picture in the ink painting style.

Ink painting is too freehand. Not to mention large-scale freehand, even small-scale freehand is impossible to produce.

In Master Yang’s opinion, 3D animation is made up of blocks. It is a very three-dimensional thing. How can it be made in ink painting style?
These are natural opposites!
Chen Shiping didn't explain much, just said: "Try more, whether it's ink painting or freehand painting, they are all visual styles in animation, nothing is impossible."

Master Yang nodded and said, "Then I'll try it later, but how do you plan to arrange the animation?"

Chen Shiping lit a cigarette for Master Yang and then for himself before saying:
"I've talked to Beijing Audiovisual Animation Art Company before, and we're still communicating. I'll check it out later and move forward as soon as possible!"

Master Yang smoked a cigarette and said, "We still have to keep some of it. We also need professional talents to guide and assist in 3D."

"That's right. You decide on the candidates. If everything goes well, we'll start the next project after the Frozen project is finished. As for the animation department, we'll take out the princess series of books and develop a feature-length animation first."

Master Yang nodded slightly, and couldn't help but pounded his waist and said, "My waist is almost failing. You can decide on the post-production and dubbing later. I can start the next one after I recover."

Chen Shiping: “.” Why did I come here and end up with a mission?

My brain hurts!
Chen Shiping agreed because Master Yang was in poor health.

But he turned around and ran to find the old factory manager Song Heng.

Ask him to keep an eye on it. Chen Shiping has too much work to do and really doesn't have time to keep an eye on these things.

The bureau has to call him for a meeting, Uncharted is about to be released, and he also has to work out plans for the Chinese distribution company. He's very busy!
There was nothing special about the conversation in the bureau. It was just asking Chen Shiping for his opinion on the establishment of Guangying Group.

What opinion could Chen Shiping have? It's already been done, how could he refuse?

However, a few small suggestions were made. It would be better if the groups could continue to work in the same independent manner after the merger.

If a deep integration is to be carried out, the various factions and management structures must be properly managed, otherwise the merger will cause a lot of trouble.

Chen Shiping sat in the bureau for an entire afternoon, expressed his attitude clearly, and then left.

This matter cannot be accomplished in a short time, and it will take a long time.

It's already July, and after so much promotion, Uncharted 2 is about to be officially released.

The Lotus Lantern, which was produced at the same time as Uncharted, is now suppressed and cannot make any movement.

However, the theme song of The Lotus Lantern is quite popular.

Li Wen’s “Missing You for 360 Days” is extremely popular now, and Chen Shiping can hear it when he walks on the street.

However, the popularity of the song did not bring much heat to the movie.

Movie lovers are even more looking forward to Uncharted!

The buzz was already building a few days before the premiere.

[Uncharted: Wrath of the Dragon will premiere at Duanmen soon! ]

【Chen Shiping said that Uncharted 2 is more exciting than the first one! 】

[Uncharted is popular in many countries when it is promoted! ]

【Yuki Amami and Zhang Ziyi appear together on the movie channel! 】

[Liu Dehua said that the filming of Uncharted Waters had a very high “technological content” and it was very exciting! ]

[Zhang Yimou is very popular in Japan, and his fame is no less than that of Chen Shiping! ]

With the non-stop publicity of various news, there is only one voice in the entire June film market, and that is Uncharted!
The promotion costs alone cost more than 20 million!
Some props and peripherals from the first Uncharted film were given away like crazy, and theaters across the country took this opportunity to raise their prices.

The price of a movie ticket has risen to twelve yuan!
This is still the average price, the highest ticket price is over fifteen yuan!
This price is really outrageous.

How much is the average wage per person?

However, there is nothing the cinema chains in each province can do about it. How can they upgrade to digital cinemas if they don’t make money?
It costs money to renovate a theater!
Chen Shiping did not interfere with the price of movie tickets, this is the market rule.

The viewing conditions of cinemas have been upgraded, and movie tickets will naturally not be the same as before.

The key point is that economic conditions are much better now. We can't still charge a few cents for a ticket like we did ten years ago.

With the increase in ticket prices, the box office of Uncharted 2 will also increase, and maybe it will really break the box office record of the first film!

The special effects and plot have been comprehensively upgraded, and the market is also larger than in the previous two years. It will definitely be a success!

Chen Shiping estimated that the entire Asian market combined should be able to take in more than 350 million US dollars in box office revenue.

This time there should be no need for enterprises or institutions to book the entire venue.

We need to rely on our own strength to get higher box office!
It’s July 2th in a blink of an eye, and Uncharted officially premieres!

The premiere was very grand and was held at the Duanmen Gate of the Forbidden City.

However, Duanmen is relatively small, so not many people can attend the premiere.

There were no spectators.

As the producer, screenwriter and screenwriter, Chen Shiping must attend the premiere!

If he, the director of the first film, doesn't show up, movie fans will start to have wild thoughts!

Beijing time, 6pm!
Chen Shiping and Tao Huimin drove to the Duanmen Gate, opened the door and walked onto the red carpet!

The moment I got off the car, I was surrounded by countless flash lights!
The reporters didn't expect that Chen Shiping would be the first guest to appear!

The true creator of Uncharted and the founder of the domestic film market has come in person to hand over the banner of Chinese directors!

(End of this chapter)